Splash shield



6 L. E. MUSGRAVE 3,112,571

SPLASH SHIELD Filed Oct. 30, 1962 //YVE/YTOR. Z 00/55 5 M05659 V5ATTOR/YEK United States Patent 3,112,571 SPLASH SHIELD Louise E.Musgrave, Lambs Grove, Iowa (106 Waterbury Road, Newton, Iowa) FiledOct. 30, 1%2, Ser. No. 234,055 2 Claims. (Cl. 36-76) This inventionrelates to an article of manufacture usable with footwear to prevent thesplashing of foreign material on a persons legs or garments.

More particularly the invention is directed to a splash shield usable incombination with a shoe to intercept, in inclement weather, the upwardtravel of foreign material thrown upwardly by a shoe during walkingmovement, thereby keeping the back of a persons legs from beingspattered with foreign material.

It is the object of the invention to provide an improved one piecearticle having a @lash shield supportable on a shoe to intercept foreignmaterial, such as water, mud, dirt, snow and slush, displaced and thrownupwardly on a persons legs in walking over the surface retaining theforeign material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shield means which iseasily installed in and removable from a shoe and functions to preservethe dainty appearance, neatness and cleanliness of hosiery on womenslegs under inclement weather conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lightweight versatileand portable splash shield which can be used with either the left orright shoe and with different style shoes.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flexible andprotective splash shield which does not interfere with the movement of apersons foot when driving a motor vehicle.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an eflective anddurable splash shield usable with shoes which is simple, rugged andeconomical in construction.

According to the invention, a flange or guard is proected rearwardlyfrom the back section of a persons shoe to form a shield to intercept,during walking, foreign materials which are splashed or thrown upwardlyby the movement of the shoe. The flange is positioned adjacent the topedge of the rear section of the shoe and extends rearwardly therefrom ina downward direction. Holding means releasably positioned on andadjacent the shoe supports the flange means in its shielding position.

The exact nature of the invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will be readily apparent from a consideration of thefollowing specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partly in section of a pumpstyle shoefitted on a foot showing the splash shield of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2-2 ofFIGURE 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the splash shield shown inFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a sandal with a wedgestyle heelcontaining the splash shield shown in FIG- URE 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a flat style shoe contain ing the splashshield shown in FIGURE 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a modified splash shield fastened on therear portion of a shoe;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view in section of the modified splash shieldshown in FIGURE 6; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another modification of the inventionshowing a splash shield secured to the rear section of foul weatherboots.

Throughout the several views of the drawing correspending structure isidentified with like reference numbers.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in FIGURE 1 an opera style pumpshoe 16 having a heel 11, inner sole 12 and counter section 13 fitted onthe foot 14 of the wearer.

When a person Walks on a surface that contains foreign material 16, suchas snow, slush, water and mud, the back portions of their legs 17 andhose become soiled and spotted with foreign material so as to beunsightly. In order to inhibit the foreign material 16 on the walkingsurface from being deposited or splashed on the back of the legs 17, ashield 18 is held in the counter section 13 of the shoe 16 by the foot14.

The shield 18 shown in FIGURES 1 to 3 is a one piece article formed froma flexible and transparent plastic film which has the characteristics ofbeing tear and moisture resistant and has sufficient rigidity so as tobe self-supported. The shield 18 comprises an elongated U-shaped body 19having a spherical contour shape which substantially conforms to thespherical curvature of the wearers heel and the contour of the countersection of the shoe 16. The body :19 is elongated in a verticaldirection to extend from the inner sole 12 to the top edge 15 of theback portion of the shoe. The arcuate cunvature of the body 19substantially conforms with the arcuate curvature of the top edge 15 ofthe back portion of the shoe and has an arcuate extent suflicient toengage the entire curved section of the back of the shoe. The lower edgeof the U- shaped body is interconnected with a continuous bottom wall 21which is adapted to conform to the shape of the heel section of theinner sole 12 of the shoe. The wall 21 extends forward under the heel ofthe foot 14 and covers the rear portion of the inner sole 12. The heelholds the shield 18 against the counter section 13 of the shoe. Thespherical shaped body 19 and bottom wall 21 of the shield 1-8 covers therear of the Wearers heel and in use takes the spherical shape of theheel and adheres thereto.

Formed integrally with the top edge 28 of the U-shaped body 19 is arearwardly and downwardly projecting flange 22. The flange 22 is of adovetail shape and diverges outwardly and downwardly preferably at anangle of about 45 to toward the walking surface and intersects the planeformed by the substantially flat bottom wall 21. The flange 22 has awidth substantially equal to the width of the shoe and a length which issuflicient to intercept foreign materials splashed or thrown upwardly bythe heel of the shoe. Preferably, as shown in FIG- URE 2 the flange 22has a length which is greater than the vertical extent of the body 19 sothat the outer edge thereof intersects the plane formed by the bottomwall 21.

In use, the shield 18 is inserted in the rear portion of the shoe Eli?so that the flange 22 extends rearwardly over the curved top edge 15.When the wearers foot 14 is inserted into the shoe, the heel is forcedinto the counter section 13 thereof thereby compressing the body 19 andbottom wall 21 of the shield 13 around the heel. The heel holds the body19 and bottom wall 21 against the counter section 13 thereby fixing therearward extended position of the flange 22. In this position the flange22 forms a shield to intercept foreign materials which are thrownupwardly during walking movement.

The shoe 23 shown in FIGURE 4 is a sandal having a wedge style heel 24,an inner sole 26 and a back strap 27. The splash shield 18' is insertedover the rear portion of the back strap 27 with the wall portion 21 inengagement with the rear section of the inner sole 26 and the flange 22directed rearwardly and downwardly from the back strap 27. Since thesandal 23 does not have a counter section, the U-shaped body 19 of theshield protects the heel of the foot from splashed foreign material.

The shoe 28 shown in FIGURE has a flat heel Z9 and a counter section 30.A splash shield 18 is positioned adjacent the counter section 30 withthe flange 22 projecting rearwardly and downwardly therefrom. The lengthof the flange 22 is such that its rearward edge thereof is spaced abovethe walking surface.

Referring to FIGURES 6'and 7 the modified shield 32 is releasablyattached to the rear portion of the shoe 31 and heel 33. The shield 32has a contoured body 34 having a U-shape in horizontal cross section,thereby enabling the body 34 to conform to the curvature of the rear ofthe shoe. A rearwardly and downwardly extending flange 36 is an integralextension of the upper edge of the body 34 and has suflicient rigidityto inhibit flapping.

' The flange 36 has a width substantially equal to the width of the shoewhich diverges laterally in a rearward direction and forms an anglepreferably of about 45 to 90 with the walking surface. The body 34 andflange 36 are formed from deformable material such as leather, rubber,or plastic which have the characteristics of being wear and moistureresistant.

The shield 32 is releasably secured to the heel 33 and the rear of theshoe 31 by means of a strap 37 of any suitable elastic material securedto the lower portion 38 of the body 34 and extending around the heel 33.The upper portion 3? of the body 34 is secured to the upper edge of therear of the shoe upper by means of a hook 41 which is fastened to theupper portion 39 by means of an elastic material 42. The body 34 isfirmly held in engagement with the rear portion of the shoe by thebiasing action of the elastic strap 37 and the elastic material 42. Thesplash shield 32 may be readily removed from the shoe by releasing thehook 41 and removing the heel 33 from the opening formed by the elasticstrap 37. The rearwardly projecting flange '36 intercepts foreignmaterial splashed in an upward direction by the heel 33 and the U-shapedbody 34 prevents the splashed material from soiling the rear part of theshoe 31.

As shown in FIGURE 8 a foul Weather boot 43 is provided with adownwardly and rearwardly extended flange 44 on its rear portion 46 forinhibiting the upward movement of foreign material splashed or thrown bythe up and down movement of the boot. The boot 43 and flange 44 may beformed as an integral body of deformable material such as rubberijorplastic. The flange 44 has a width substantially equal to the width ofthe boot and diverges outwardly in a rearward direction to increase thearea of coverage surrounding the rear portion of the boot 43. The flange44 may be removably secured to the rear portion of the boot 43 by meansof conventional snaps (not shown). In foul weather use, the boot 43keeps the shoe dry and the rearwardly extended fiange 44 inhibits theupward direction of materials splashed by the downward movement of theboot from splattering and spotting the rear portion of the leg.

While there have been shown, described, and pointed out the fundamentalnovel features of the invention, it is to be understood that variousomissions, substitutions, changes in form, and details of the article ofmanufacture illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. It is intended to be limitedonly as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. A one piece splash shield for use on the heel of a foot positioned ina shoe having a heel portion which includes a counter sectionterminating in a top edge and an inner sole section to inhibit theupward splashing of foreign material during walking movementscomprising:

(a) an elongated U-shaped body receivable within said heel portion andhaving a top edge and a bottom edge and a spherical contour shape whichsubstantially conforms to the curvature of the heel and adapted toextend adjacent the sides of the heel,

(b) a bottom wall integral with the bottom edge of said body, said wallextended adjacent the inner sole section of said shoe, and

(c) a flange integral with the top edge of said body, said flange whenthe body is received within the heel portion being adapted to extenddirectly downwardly from the top edge of the counter section of the shoein a direction away from the heel, said flange being diverged outwardlyand of a length sufficient to intercept foreign materials splashedupwardly by said shoe.

2. A one piece splash shield for use on the heel of a foot positioned ina shoe having a heel portion which includes a counter sectionterminating in a top edge to inhibit upward splashing of foreignmaterial during walking movements comprising:

(a) an elongated U-shaped body receivable within said heel portion andhaving a top edge and a spherical contour shape which substantiallyconforms to the curvature of the heel and adapted to extend adjacent thesides of the heel, and

(b) a flange integral with the top edge of saidbody, said flange whenthe body is received within the heel portion being adapted to extenddirectly downwardly from the top edge of the counter section of the shoein a direction away from the heel, said flange being diverged outwardlyand of a length sufficient to intercept foreign materials splashedupwardly by said shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,012,253 Gerhart Dec. 19, 1911 1,820,095 Smith Aug. 25, 1931 1,895,598Fricker Jan. 31, 1933 2,039,954 Fricker May 5, 1936 2,181,807 Geers eta1 Nov. 28, 1939 2,292,466 Norlin Aug. 11, 1942 2,446,285 Iacobsen Aug.3, 1948 2,495,195 Denzer Jan. 17, 1950 2,521,021 Robinson Sept. 5, 1950FOREIGN PATENTS 654,027 France Nov. 20', 1928

1. A ONE PIECE SPLASH SHIELD FOR USE ON THE HEEL OF A FOOT POSITIONED INA SHOE HAVING A HEEL PORTION WHICH INCLUDES A COUNTER SECTIONTERMINATING IN A TOP EDGE AND AN INNER SOLE SECTION TO INHIBIT THEUPWARD SPLASHING OF FOREIGN MATERIAL DURING WALKING MOVEMENTSCOMPRISING: (A) AN ELONGATED U-SHAPED BODY RECEIVABLE WITHIN SAID HEELPORTION AND HAVING A TOP EDGE AND A BOTTOM EDGE AND A SPHERICAL CONTOURSHAPE WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY CONFORMS TO THE CURVATURE OF THE HEEL ANDADAPTED TO EXTEND ADJACENT THE SIDES OF THE HEEL, (B) A BOTTOM WALLINTEGRAL WITH THE BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID BODY, SAID WALL EXTENDED ADJACENTTHE INNER SOLE SECTION OF SAID SHOE, AND (C) A FLANGE INTEGRAL WITH THETOP EDGE OF SAID BODY, SAID FLANGE WHEN THE BODY IS RECEIVED WITHIN THEHEEL PORTION BEING ADAPTED TO EXTEND DIRECTLY DOWNWARDLY FROM THE TOPEDGE OF THE COUNTER SECTION OF THE SHOE IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM THEHEEL, SAID FLANGE BEING DIVERGED OUTWARDLY AND OF A LENGTH SUFFICIENT TOINTERCEPT FOREIGN MATERIALS SPLASHED UPWARDLY BY SAID SHOE.